What are they really marching for?
The article titled "Marching to put food on the table" (Aug. 22 Empire) once again brought the Native-subsistence issue to the forefront of community awareness. All of the quotes from the Native population, however, failed to address the question that titles this letter. What are they really marching for?

It gets even sillier
Everybody knows the old saying about how the beating of a butterfly's wing in Brazil can cause a hurricane in Texas. Now we have our very own local version. The way I understand the logic, if the city Assembly doesn't approve a zoning variance in Juneau, the voters in Fairbanks will vote to move the legislative session to Wasilla. It gets even sillier. According to Lew Williams, the people of Wrangell are in danger of voting to move the legislative session if we don't stop whining about an ill-conceived gold mine in Canada.

Don't blur the air
"Watering down" our forests may keep them green, but "watering down" the proposed smoke-free ordinance will leave a harmful haze blurring not only our health but also our confidence in the Assembly.

Plunge on slope takes teen's life
Searchers who recovered the body of a New Jersey teen-ager from the slopes of Mount Juneau speculated the young hiker fell 150 to 200 feet and died of head injuries.

New technology to make airport safer
The federal government envisions a day when a snowplow driver at Juneau Airport will know if he is on a collision course with aircraft by turning to a computer screen in his vehicle.

Weekend Best Bets
For many people, this weekend the last weekend of August marks the end of summer. The salmon derby is over, school starts next week and the Juneau Community Garden Harvest Fair is Saturday.

McDowell group backs fast ferries
Marine transportation consultants are recommending the use of fast vehicle ferries and passenger shuttles to provide regular, predictable service in the northern panhandle and the upper Lynn Canal.

Juneau search turns up heroin, pot
The Southeast Alaska Narcotics Enforcement Team arrested a man Thursday afternoon after a search of his home turned up narcotics and more than 30 marijuana plants.

Thank you letters:
The Juneau Garden Club wishes to thank all involved in hosting the State Garden Clubs' Convention 2001. For a theme we chose "Artists of the Earth." Applause to Juneau's wonderful community of gardeners, our own artists of the earth for contributing to the rich interplay of natural and tended landscapes found here.

Living and Growing Column
This week as I reflected on the difficult and divisive question of subsistence in our state, I found myself meditating on the story of Ahab and Naboth. In this Old Testament story from the First Book of Kings, a man named Naboth owned a vineyard that was beside the palace of Ahab, the king of Samaria. The king wanted Naboth's vineyard and said to him, "Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it is close by, next to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or, if you prefer, I will give you its value in money."

My Turn column: Reinforce the forests' roadless rule decision
The Bush administration is on the wrong road. The Roadless-area Conservation Rule, as it was written into the Federal Register in January 2001, was a major step in the right direction for conservation. There are two major schools of thought when it comes to forests. One views the forest as a crop to be harvested like fields of wheat. The other sees the forest as a living ecosystem and an essential part of the web-of-life. There is no question into which group the Bush administration falls. The re-opening of the Roadless-area Rule is the Bush administration sharpening its scythe by the light of the harvest moon.

My Turn column: A sweetheart deal for 'friends of Ted?'
It is extraordinarily unusual for the government to turn over millions of dollars of public assets to a small group of private individuals. That is why Sen. Ted Stevens has to draft special legislation to assist the Alaska Lighthouse Association in its attempt to raid 1,495 acres of your land adjacent to the Point Retreat Lighthouse on Admiralty Island. The Juneau Empire has given superficial coverage to this issue, but so far they have not asked the pertinent question: Just who are these people and why is Senator Ted being so gosh darn nice to them?

Bears host only home meet
The Juneau-Douglas High School cross country team will host its only home meet of the year Saturday at the Treadwell Mine Trail in Douglas, with the gun scheduled to go off at 10 a.m. for the girls race and 10:45 a.m. for the boys race.

Juneau heads north to play West Anchorage
The Juneau-Douglas High School varsity football team heads north with something to prove when the Crimson Bears take on the West Anchorage Eagles at noon Saturday at Anchorage Football Stadium.

JRC tennis tournament postponed
Due to lack of participation, the Southeast Alaska Singles Tennis Championships were postponed until April according to Hassan Bani Saaid, director of tennis at the Juneau Racket Club.